


New Normal

by ErgoIncognito



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Loss, Love Triangles, MCiT, MGiT, Memory Loss, Slow Burn, Very Very Slow Burn, modern character(s) in thedas, or quadrilaterals
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-04-24 06:03:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19167295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErgoIncognito/pseuds/ErgoIncognito
Summary: What if two video game streamers got pulled into our favorite video game universe? What if one of them suffered amnesia - then when the memories returned, got amnesia of the events in Thedas? Additionally, what if Drunk-Alistair had been saved from the streets of Kirkwall and brought back to the Inquisition?Follow Amanda(/Maggie) as she navigates her New Normal.*WIP. I intend for this to go into M/E territory down the line. I'll be updating the tags when appropriate. No posting schedule as of yet but I am currently working on it regularly.





	1. Questions

She struggled to open her eyes. A thick gluey substance was holding them shut. Sluggishly she disentangled a limb from out of the bedsheets and pawed clumsily at her face.

From relatively close by, a voice cried out in surprise, “Maggie!” She suddenly drew a breath in sharply, struggling to place the timbre, the intonation…

“Who’s… who’s there?”

The unfamiliar voice replied, suddenly a touch more familiar. “It’s Alistair, Maggie.” A strong hand reached up to gently hold her shoulder. He struggled against the cracking of his voice as he continued in a strange yet smooth British accent, “I was so worried. You’ve been asleep for so long… I thought we’d lost you.” His fingers softly stroked down her arm to hold her hand firmly, confidently.

She wracked her brain for knowledge of this ‘Alistair.’ As an American, she didn’t know anyone in her personal life who had an accent like that one, especially not one who spoke in a timbre as smooth as butter. Certainly not a man who’d speak to her with such adulation. She brought her other limb numbly up to her eyes and quickly began pawing the residual long-crusted-over sleep remnants out of them. She hissed as she knocked a rough piece into, rather than out of her eye. “Careful,” the smooth voiced man cautioned, “let me help.” The strong hand dropped hers as his footsteps echoed further into the room. “I’ll bring you back a washcloth.”

Too late, Maggie realized she had appreciated the calming proximity of the hand that had been holding hers, and echoes of feelings crept in to replace the soothing presence. Her chest ached with dread, worry, fear. Maggie tried to keep her voice from shaking. “Where exactly am I, anyway? How did I get here?”

The footsteps grew gradually louder again. “You’re in your room here in Skyhold. Don’t worry, the Inquisitor returned from Adamant just today. I know you’ve been worried about your friends, but the team was ultimately successful. And Rick is safe.”

A thousand more questions ran through Maggie’s mind as she felt that same strong hand gently hold the back of her head while a damp cloth softly wiped at her eyes. She kept silent as she mentally parsed through them, still unsure of how she got wherever she was now.


	2. Bits & Pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little more background about our main character... and a reveal about the setting back home.

Amanda was beginning to remember. Waking up her brain from the fog was like swimming through pudding, but treading was becoming less and less difficult. She remembered a bit about the meetup, but not enough of the details. She had to find someone who could answer her questions.

She needed to find someone else who was here and had also attended RK47’s meetup.

 

* * *

 

Amanda usually went by Mags online, which was derived from her preferred handle, MagdaSPwn. RK would frequently call her Maggie when she chatted on his streams. And she chatted often, as one of the top mods. RK47 had a moderate-sized audience of about 50 people regularly, but sometimes when he’d stream himself playing a more popular game, that number would climb as high as 80 to 100 viewers. There was always a core group of chatters though, about twenty or thirty people, whose handles Amanda recognized and remembered Mags in turn.

They’d all been excited for the meetup in San Francisco, Amanda perhaps most of all. There were so many people she’d been excited to meet, people who she considered good friends despite only communicating online. And she’d grown to appreciate the little community that Rick had fostered in their preferred corner of the internet. It was wonderful to talk to like-minded individuals who shared her interests and sense of humor. She and many others in the chat didn't have that kind of community in real life, so it was refreshing to find it anywhere.

It had been a typical mid-May day in the Bay, sunny with a few clouds, temperature moderate but with a few light breezes. The nearly perfect weather extended to SF, making it a rare gem of a day. Fantastic timing for walking around the north part of the Presidio with fifteen or so other people.

RK the person - Rick Knight-Powell - was exactly as he was online. Genuine, witty, gregarious. Charming almost to a fault. Caring. And his girlfriend of six months Jessica was equally adorable alongside him. A goofy, endearing sweetheart through and through. They made a great team as the pair bounced about from person to person, working to include everyone in their conversations and making sure no one in the group was uncomfortable or felt unwelcome.

They walked, they talked, they laughed. They put faces to internet monikers and exchanged IRL-names. They explored the historical landmarks and took enough pictures to fill everyone’s Instagram feeds. The out-of-towners complained about all that walking hurting their feet, and the locals laughed knowingly and pressed on.

The group had stopped about an hour prior to eat pre-packed lunches at one of the picnicking spots overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. After finishing, they’d moved closer to the bridge, making it most of the way towards the picturesque postcard overlooks surrounding the Welcome Center. Jessica, smart woman that she was, had brought both a tripod and selfie stick, and she proceeded to take group photos. Exhausted already, half of the group demanded a walk back to the parking lot and for all to meet in the lobby of their chosen hotel to hang out in someone’s room over snacks.

Everyone’s hair had whipped into their faces with a vengeance throughout the day, under the influence of the Pacific Ocean breezes. Amanda had pulled her medium-length dark-brown hair into an easy and sensible half-bun ponytail so the ends wouldn’t flop back into her face. But as they reached the parking lot, only a few hours into the meetup, the smaller strands she couldn’t control stood on end as goosebumps suddenly cut a swath across her arms. A split-second later, a loud explosion rocked the ground.

 

Amanda finally remembered, if only in bits and pieces. And she needed to know what had happened next.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags updated. ;)
> 
> I got a good deal of writing done last night, so here's another chapter already! I'm thinking I'll probably update this once every other week. I forsee a couple writing blocks in my future, but hopefully I'll be able to move past them soon enough.
> 
> Thanks for the kudos!


	3. Answers & More Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At last, we find Rick.... and learn a teeny bit more about the whole situation.
> 
> Reminder: Amanda goes by Mags/Maggie on the internets. Rick goes by RK. Their alternate monikers will be used interchangeably in this story.

Amanda heard a knock at the door. “It’s Rick. Is she awake yet?”

“RICK?!” Amanda hurriedly jumped out of bed and rushed to the door. “ _RICK!!_ Oh thank god…” She fumbled with the lock for a moment. Alistair helped her open it with a smirk. He stepped back as Amanda flung herself into Rick’s arms and sobbed, smirk faltering.

“What the actual fuck happened? Where are we?” Amanda demanded.

Rick grinned and shook his head fondly. “Mags, you have to quit scaring us like that. The reports said you were out cold for a couple of days there. I thought we were gonna have another episode like Day One.” Rick smiled kindly as he ushered them to her table. “Come on, let's sit down and talk a bit about what happened.”

Alistair pulled out a chair and guided Amanda into it, resting his hand on top of hers as he seated himself. Amanda sank into her chair, even more confused than ever. Rick began, “We made it out of Adamant. That was one HELL of a battle, you don't even want to know. I’d honestly rather not talk much about it. But the crew made it all back.” He paused and shifted uncomfortably. “My guests are another story, but we can talk about that later. I want to know how YOU are. I didn't realize you had such a penchant for fainting spells,” he teased.

Amanda nodded absently, the words not entirely clicking in her brain. “Yeah, so what I want to know is, what all DID happen to us at the meetup? I remember that green gas explosion, you pushing Jessica behind a parked car, and then you and I getting sucked towards the vortex…” She paused, drawing an accusing glance towards RK. “What did you mean ‘like Day One’? What happened? Was that a terror attack?!”

Rick swore loudly and rose out of the chair he’d barely settled into. "You... you remember?!" The shock was apparent on his face. Amanda nodded slowly. “Holy God… it’s about time.” Rick let out a breath he’d been holding. “So what _do_ you remember of the meet?”

Amanda thought for a quick second. “We walked around the Presidio. After lunch we headed towards the Bridge and took pics. Then we made it back to the parking lot when what we thought was a quake hit. But the noise sounded like an explosion… when I turned back toward the Bridge, there was a green smog cloud coming our way. You had yanked Jessica to get in front of you, beside a parked car. I couldn’t make it to one in time. I don’t know what happened after that.”

Alistair sat frozen in his seat, the hopeful smile on his face fading more with every word. He looked between the two of them cautiously. Breaking his silence, Alistair tentatively asked, “What… what explosion? Who is Jessica? What’s a parking lot?”

Rick sighed heavily and continued, ignoring Alistair's questions for the moment. “Sooo… I don't have answers for you, Mags,” he cautioned slowly. “Not enough of them, anyway. Just what’s relevant to you and me, here and now.” He sighed deeply again and sank back down at the table, pausing to gather his thoughts before glancing back to look in Amanda’s eyes. “I got no clue what happened in San Francisco. None at all. Because you and I landed somewhere else entirely. I…” Rick’s voice faltered, and he cleared his throat. “I wish I knew if everyone made it out okay. We’re the only ones here.”

Amanda’s jaw dropped open. She found her voice long enough to ask, “And where is HERE?” Rick leveled a haunted gaze at Amanda. “Thedas. We’re in fucking D-A-I,” he spelled out. Rick reached his left hand out toward Amanda’s free one, and she saw the glowing green mark embedded in it. She felt the magic thrum as he grasped hers and gave a squeeze. Amanda’s eyes widened even further as she shook her head slowly, surely. “No…” she finally gasped out, “that’s not… this can’t…”

Amanda felt her bones turn to jelly just before her brain turned back to pudding. The last thing she felt were strong arms wrapped around her, lifting her from the chair as her vision faded to nothing.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Inquisitor is right... our protagonist has a penchant for fainting spells, indeed.
> 
> I'm sorry.
> 
> ... okay, I'm not sorry.


	4. Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn a tiny bit more about Amanda's hometown, through her explanations to another.

The smell of freshly brewed coffee and steamed milk mingled with the asphalt and cement smells which always permeated the air as Amanda polished off her latte. She was sitting just outside the café, people-watching the regular riffraff who walked down the busy Inner Sunset street. It was a beautiful afternoon, and she was enjoying it at one of her favorite coffee spots before grabbing dinner from a few storefronts over. She scrolled absentmindedly through her social media feeds on her phone, grateful for the customer wifi to help keep her data usage down.  
  
“Fascinating place, da’len. Mind explaining to me where we are?”  
  
The voice made Amanda jerk her head up quickly, dropping her phone into her lap and nearly losing her coffee cup as well. An elf was standing in front of her bench seat. A bald elf she recognized from one of her favorite video games.  
  
“Uhhh… what? _Solas?!_ ”  
  
“Indeed.” He quirked his head slightly and waited patiently, hands folded behind his back.  
  
Amanda was floored. “Wait. You- you know me? Are you in my dream right now?” She placed her empty cup on the bench and put her head in her hands. “Oh god, this is so weird.”  
  
“Which part? That I am visiting your dream? Or perhaps there is something else?” Solas gave Amanda a gentle, knowing half-smile.  
  
Amanda nodded defeatedly. “Yes. Yes to all.” She groaned as she stood up, grabbing her paper cup and putting her phone in her purse before resetting the strap of her cross-body handbag across her left shoulder. “Come on, I might as well show you around Fog City while we’re here. Let’s walk and talk.”  
  
Solas fell in step as they began walking south, down 7th Avenue. She wanted to bring him back up to Twin Peaks, to that hill where she could show Solas her beloved home city. But she needed to drive in order to get up there. Her car had been parked in her favorite not-so-secret spot, the lot next to the small high school. If you arrived just after the students were leaving, there were usually a couple of parking spots available. “We’ll take my car. You’ll see shortly,” Amanda headed off Solas’ question as he opened his mouth. He closed it again with a small smile, keeping pace alongside her.  
  
After a moment’s thought, Amanda led with, “This was home.” She checked for traffic as they approached the parking lot.  
  
Solas nodded somberly. “' _Was,_ ' then. I see." He quirked an eyebrow as he followed. "So did you live on this particular plot of land?”  
  
Amanda stopped, chuckling. “No, no. I did live in this city, on the other side of this neighborhood. Closer to the ocean, to the west. But we’re heading to my personal mode of travel. I’m going to take us up to a vantage point where you can get a sense of the size of this city. Somehow I doubt you’d truly believe me if I simply told you about it.” She smirked as Solas laughed softly and followed her through the lot.  
  
Solas examined the Elantra curiously. It had originally been painted the approximate color of snowfall in the Frostbacks, but that paint was now slightly weathered by the last decade or so around the salty ocean air, marked by long-dried mist mingled with road dirt and flattened bug-splatter. Amanda hit the button on her keyfob twice, startling Solas slightly as all the doors unlocked with a click. “There we go.” Amanda pulled the door handle on the passenger side and motioned for him to sit, then walked over to the driver’s side to climb in without waiting to see if he would. Solas watched Amanda walk around the front of the car while he got comfortable on the padded fabric.  
  
Amanda showed Solas how to buckle his seat belt then turned the key in the ignition. She smiled at the implied question behind his expressive eyes. “ _Yes,_ I’ll be happy to answer questions about this vehicle as we travel. It's called an automobile, or car for short. It’s powered by gasoline and electricity.” She explained what she knew of the two, drawing on her limited high school physics and chemistry knowledge. “I wasn’t an engineer or anything, and I didn’t study either of these in-depth, so this is just pretty basic knowledge. The same thing all people have to learn. We make our children learn in school from when they are about five years old to when they are around sixteen or eighteen, at which point they can decide whether to continue education or simply choose a career. Further education is not mandatory so there is no free public option provided.”  
  
They hung a left and the car wound up the gentle Clarendon Avenue curves. Solas was drinking in the lush green landscape of the drive, impressive eucalyptus trees on one side. “What is that structure?” he asked, pointing at the red and white tower which had cropped up over the tops of the row houses they were passing. “It does not have walls, and does not appear to be a statue. Unless your people have taken on new meanings for the word, _‘art.’”_  
  
He smirked as Amanda threw her head back and laughed heartily. “Ohhh, you have no idea. You’re right on that front, but not for this instance.” She smiled as she glanced at Solas for a quick moment before turning her eyes back to the road. “That thing's known as Sutro Tower.” She flipped on the radio and turned to the contemporary rock station for an example as she continued. “One of the wonderful things we discovered was radio waves. You can use the signals to broadcast any sound for miles. That tower over there is broadcasting the music we’re listening to right now. A person on the other side of the bay is transmitting the signals from a high-powered radio station headquarters, and this tower is picking up the signals and re-transmitting that broadcast to the entire city. You’ve already seen some of how hilly this place is; we need that tower’s height in order to receive a consistent broadcast signal anywhere in the region.”  
  
Solas’ mouth hung open as he listened to the strange music coming from the radio. “Fascinating…” The implications of the level of technology available in Maggie’s homeland… He needed to find out where this place was. He sat back in the comfortable seat and contemplated how he might find this place again as the car sped along the roads, strange to him but clearly familiar to Maggie. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I meant to end it there. Mister Dread Wolfie's true motivations are known only to him, after all.
> 
> Sooo I hit that inspiration block and my buffer is nearly gone. My muse needs to come back and write the chapter after next for me. *bangs head against a wall*


	5. Reawakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a few things about Amanda's recollection become a little bit clearer to a few people.

“Worried, wondering, afraid for her, for us. What does she remember? What does she know? Will she be okay?”  
  
That British accent with smooth intonation sharply rebuked, “That’s enough, Cole.” Alistair raked his hand through his bronde hair and continued pacing the length of the bedroom. He paused. “Though… she will be okay, right?”  
  
“I am afraid I cannot do much more for her,” a familiar lilting Welsh accent sighed. “She must awaken on her own, it seems. My usual methods are not so effective on Maggie, for some reason. I find that strange and disconcerting.”  
  
“So do I,” Rick grumbled. He leaned back to rest his head against the wall, arms crossed at his chest. “Poor Mags. She’s been through a lot. I mean, we both have really, but now this too…”  
  
Solas pursed his lips as he continued. “Thankfully I was able to ward her dreams to ensure she was kept safe from demons while she slept.” The apostate smirked slightly and tried to catch Rick’s eye. “Maggie’s dreams were… most interesting, Inquisitor.” Rick ignored the elf’s potential call-out, lost in his own thoughts.  
  
“I wonder that she should regain her memories of your life before about the same time you did, Inquisitor,” Solas continued further as he stood from Amanda’s bedside. “I would surmise that regaining the memories you did when we fell into the Fade somehow triggered a reaction which caused hers to return as well. Perhaps that is what has caused her body to lose consciousness as well?” He walked over to lean against the wall alongside Rick. “I have a number of theories regarding Maggie’s condition. Nonetheless I can confirm nothing until she awakens and I can speak with her.”  
  
A weak groan brought everyone’s attention back to the bed. “Ugh… what the fuck was in that latte?” Amanda pried her eyes open, grumbling. Almost immediately, two concerned faces were up in hers.  
  
“Maggie!”  
  
“You’re awake!”  
  
After a beat, Solas added his voice to the eager duo with an easy smile. “Welcome back, da’len.”  
  
“Sudden, overwhelming, ‘this is too much,’” came a fourth voice from the corner of the room. “’I need some room to breathe.’ But you are breathing… ohh. I understand.” The spirit-boy nodded at the apostate as he poofed out of the room.  
  
Solas quietly backed away first, a move made easier by already being the farthest away. The Inquisitor had moved around him to get to Amanda’s side first. Alistair’s eyes shifted to meet Rick’s for a long moment before he reluctantly stepped back. The former Grey Warden folded his arms across his chest with a slight frown.  
  
Rick crouched nearly to eye level with Amanda. “How ya feeling, Mags?” He smirked lightly. “I thought I just told you to quit this fainting business, ya goof. You keep worrying us and I’ll end up staying in here the whole time instead of fighting that idiot darkspawn magister.”  
  
Amanda squinched her eyes shut and groaned again. “Yeah… about that.” She shifted herself to a more seated position. “Are we seriously in Thedas? How in the ever-living fuck did that happen?!” She paused for a breath, thinking. With a slightly furtive glance at the other two men in the room, she continued.  “Where are you in the timeline again? Do the advisers know about, uh… D-A-I?” She spelled out the last three letters as Rick had previously.  
  
The Inquisitor chuckled as he moved to sit next to Amanda on the bed. “Everyone in this room knows we’re weird Earthlings. The three know the most, but the Circle know a lot.” Rick nodded to Solas with a small smirk, then nodded to Alistair with a grin. “I have no idea how much Ali over here’s been told, but you should be able to fill in the dots.”  
  
Amanda blinked, confused. “What do you mean?”  
  
Rick paused, unsure what to say back to that. Surely she’d noticed by now that Alistair had developed feelings for her. She had to have noticed, given all that time they had been spending together the last several weeks, according to those who’d remained in Skyhold with them. Undoubtedly they’d shared backstories and other such details with each other, right?  
  
“How… how long have I been here, Rick?” Amanda’s voice wavered through the question. “I realize you must have been at the Conclave, because of that,” she pointed at the Inquisitor’s left hand, “but what about me?”  
  
Rick’s jaw dropped as he froze. Had Maggie lost her memory yet again? Navigating Thedas and the early Inquisition just after the Conclave explosion had been hard enough when Maggie didn't remember much of anything, but Rick had been able to help her regain some semblance of herself. Well, once Leliana backed off and Cassandra had begun to believe him, anyway. But now, here she was, seemingly remembering everything of who she was… except for the last few months of her life. This last month in particular, all reports were that she and Alistair been growing closer and closer, and in the few brief moments Rick had been able to come back to Skyhold between missions, he’d seen evidence of the same. He figured they would have begun a relationship by the time he came back from besieging Adamant.  
  
But now, if Mags had amnesia once more… all bets would be off, wouldn’t they?  
  
Rick cast a glance towards Alistair, who’d been almost unusually silent. He hadn’t had nearly enough time since Leliana retrieved the former warden to get to know him as well as he would’ve liked, but he liked what he did come to know. And he knew enough to know Alistair grew talkative when he was slightly unnerved, yet became quiet and retreated into himself when he was overwhelmingly uncomfortable.  
  
The poor man was now huddled to himself in the corner, trying to become as small and unseen as possible. Downcast eyes kept shifting towards the door as Alistair inched his way closer to his exit. His face was mottled with blotches of pink, his eyes rimmed red, and his mouth a quivering frown.

  
“Well, shit.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> annnnd that's all I have written thus far. I will update as my muse strikes me from here on out.


End file.
